


Consider This: the rest of your life

by peerpressure



Series: Consider This [3]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:41:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29922549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peerpressure/pseuds/peerpressure
Summary: The epilogue.
Relationships: Niall Horan/Harry Styles
Series: Consider This [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2164323
Comments: 7
Kudos: 26





	1. CHAPTER ONE

**Author's Note:**

> I really didn't plan on writing an epilogue, but I received so much positive feedback on Consider This that I felt inspired to write this. Again, thank you so much to everyone who's commented and showered me in praise. I love you. Beware, I threw this together in less than a week, so.

”Here.” Niall hands Harry his cup of tea and then sits down next to him on the sofa, leaving some space between them.

”Thanks,” Harry mumbles and blows on his tea, takes a cautious sip before setting it on the table. A silence rises between them, one that is not too comfortable. They’ve been falling into this silence several times today, already. It’s not like Harry thought that after his declaration of love this morning, that everything would magically be great and like it was before, but he didn’t really expect this; silence and uncertainty. The whole day has been off. Partly because of what happened yesterday, though; Harry still can’t get the pictures out of his mind. He called his mum to tell her what happened, and then Gemma, Liam and Louis and all phone calls had been painful and teary. And despite how Niall sat with him and held his hand as he sobbed into the phone, he still felt far away. But now, with Hugo having gone to sleep, a stillness has painted the atmosphere of the flat.

”Let’s talk,” Niall says and holds his tea cautiously as he turns sideways a little, facing Harry.

Harry can’t help the small sigh escaping him. He lets his head fall to the back of the sofa. ”Alright. Where do you want to start?”

”I don’t know,” Niall answers after a short silence, ”I don’t know.”

The silence stretches on and Harry can’t really look at Niall. Can feel his eyes on him, burning on his cheek, but his own eyes he keeps stubbornly on the red standby light on the telly. He shoves his hands under his thighs, just to ground himself, and takes a deep breath.

”I really didn’t mean to hurt you,” he begins slowly and then pauses, ”or maybe I did, I don’t know. The whole thing just kind of- happened.”

He can see Niall nod slowly in his peripheral vision. ”Alright. What caused it, then?”

”You’re gonna think it’s so stupid, Louis did.” Harry closes his eyes and lowers his head. ”And it _is_ stupid, I know that. It just didn’t feel stupid at the moment, you know?” He bravely raises his head and looks at Niall, briefly. Sees him nod, and then lowers his head again. Doesn’t close his eyes though, keeps them fixed on the blue stripes on his pyjama bottoms. ”I promised myself, you know, before we even went to see the dinosaurs at Crystal Palace that I wouldn’t even _attempt_ at anything with you. And I broke that promise. I didn’t prioritise Hugsie like I said I would.” He more feels than sees Niall open his mouth and stops him before he has the chance to interrupt, ”and before you say anything, I know you were right, I haven’t been putting you first. Just didn’t feel like it. It hit me all at once when-” he swallows and hunches his shoulders, ”when Hugo showed you his photo album. I was letting you into our history, letting you see these moments that you will never understand the significance of, and so soon!” He tears his hands out from their hiding place under his thighs. ”After three months! Not only did I not do as I promised myself, I went and did it _too soon_!”

He realises once he stops talking that he’s slightly out of breath and his arms fall limply into his lap. He lets his head hang between his shoulders once more.

”So to sum that up: you got scared.”

Harry snorts and then sighs. ”Yeah.”

Niall puts his hand on Harry’s neck. It’s a warm, welcomed weight. Harry reaches out and puts his hand on Niall’s knee, the bum one, and rubs his thumb.

”We’ll take it slow from now,” Niall says and sounds very sure of himself.

”I don’t want that,” Harry shakes his head. ”I think what scared me the most was how much I enjoyed where we were.” He looks up at Niall once more, wills his face to show his honesty. Niall leans in and presses a firm kiss against his lips. It’s short, but the feeling of Niall’s lips linger.

”If yesterday hadn’t happened,” Niall starts and rubs his thumb soothingly on the side of Harry’s neck. He doesn’t finish the question, though, just leaves it hanging between them, heavy and dense. But Harry understands. He swallows and shakes his head, looks away from Niall once more.

”I would’ve given you one more week.”

Harry looks up. Niall’s face is open, like it is during those times he would make Harry’s heart stutter with his words.

”A month in total,” Niall continues and squeezes Harry’s neck, just a little.

”And then?” Harry prompts when Niall doesn’t continue. Niall watches him for a moment.

”I wasn’t prepared to let you go that easily without even fighting for you.”

And there he goes and does it again, snatches the air right out of Harry’s lungs. Niall saying the explicit words ”I love you” this morning didn’t feel nearly as intimate as this does.

”Thank you.”

”I want this with you.”

Harry takes a moment to let Niall’s words sink in and then his sight blurs. Niall moves his hand from Harry’s neck to his cheek and Harry leans in to it. He looks at Niall through his tears and feels his heart swell up. It inflates like a balloon in his chest, filling up the spaces between his ribs. He feels light.

”I want this life with you and Hugo,” Niall continues and shuffles closer, deposits his tea cup on the table and brings his other hand up to cradle Harry’s face. The first tear spills over and Niall wipes it away with his thumb. ”I feel so good when I’m with you, and I’m so in love with you. You’re so fucking good for me. I love how much you care, and you’re funny, and warm, and a good dad, and so beautiful, and-” it becomes too much and Harry’s quiet tears turn into a full on crying. Niall shushes him gently. Harry puts his hands on Niall’s thighs, grips them tightly.

”You’re so good for me, too. And Hugo. But fuck, I don’t deserve you.”

”I think you do.”

”I hurt you.”

”Yeah, but I’m probably going to hurt you too, at some point.”

”But what I insinuated-”

”You think I’m not used to it? I’m a _stripper_ ,” Niall snorts and wipes at Harry’s tears. Then, ”but yeah, it hurts a bit that you’re so bothered by what I do.”

Shame creeps up from within Harry and he squeezes his eyes shut. ”I’m sorry.” It bubbles up his throat and comes out sounding like a sob. Harry doesn’t want this, doesn’t want to turn himself into the victim here. He wants to take responsibility, to be able to look Niall in the eye but this, followed by Niall’s beautiful words, is uncomfortable and makes him want to turn himself inside out.

”Don’t apologise for your feelings.”

This is too much. How can Niall critisise him and still make him feel so cared for? Despite the nature of their conversation, just being near Niall, being touched by him, makes a warmth spread from his fingertips to his toes.

”But I’d like you to be more openminded about it. Yeah? I don’t know, maybe you could come to a show and see what it’s like?”

”Alright,” Harry whispers.

”Harry,” Niall murmurs and moves even closer, moving his legs to fit them between Harry’s. He puts his lips to Harry’s forehead.

”I missed you so much,” Harry whispers through his crying and more tears flow down his cheeks. ”It’s been shit, everything’s been shit without you.”

”I missed you, too.”

Harry whimpers, he _whimpers_ , and pushes himself against Niall. He moves his hands from Niall’s thighs to his waist and presses his lips against Niall’s. Niall reacts without hesitation and pulls Harry in closer until Harry is straddling his waist. Harry is still crying and their kiss tastes of salt from his tears but they don’t stop. They kiss with a newfound passion and Harry’s skin is burning where Niall touches him. He tangles his fingers in Niall’s hair, grounding himself so he doesn’t float away. But when he grinds down, feeling Niall’s hardening cock rub against his own, Niall tears his lips from Harry’s.

”Not tonight,” he murmurs and kisses the corner of Harry’s mouth, ”I need to let everything sink in, first.”

Harry nods, rests his forehead against Niall’s and tries not to let himself be disappointed.

”Doesn’t mean I don’t want you,” Niall continues in a whisper and puts his hands on Harry’s bum, pushing him down and rubbing their groins together again, ”because I do. Never wanted anyone as much as I want you.”

Harry shivers and presses his lips against Niall’s again. Niall kisses him back, but slows it down. The words in Harry’s heart are singing, a choir singing glorious hymns about Niall and Harry listens. He listens.

”I love you,” he whispers against Niall’s lips, feels them stretch out in a smile.

”Say it again.”

”I love you.”

”I love you.” Niall’s hands wander up Harry’s back under his tee shirt, caressing the skin stretching over his shoulder blades, fingers tickling near his armpits. Harry’s muscles relax and he sags against Niall’s chest. He buries his head where Niall’s neck meets his shoulder and closes his eyes. Breathes in. Niall holds him close.

”Thank you for giving me another chance.” Harry whispers the words into Niall’s neck, his breath carving out the words in his skin.

Niall holds him tighter. ”Thank you for coming to your senses.”

Harry breathes out a laugh. He grinds down lightly, a barely there movement. His cock has begun to go soft and so has Niall’s and Harry is not trying to seduce Niall when he’s just said he doesn’t want to - he just needs to feel close, to feel all of Niall’s body. Niall’s hair tickles his forehead, Niall’s hands roam his back and his sides, Niall’s chest is pressed against his, Niall’s smell and the movements of his breathing invade all of Harry’s senses. He doesn’t know for how long they sit like this. The wet tears on his face dry, leaving his skin raw. After a while, though, Niall huffs out,

”Alright, enough. You’re too heavy.”

”Don’t be mean.” Harry lifts his head and leans back, sees Niall rolling his eyes.

”You’re bigger than me, really it should be me straddling you.” He moves his hands from Harry’s back under his armpits and to his chest, stroking his hands over his skin and bunching up the tee shirt in the process. ”You’re so fucking broad,” Niall continues in a murmur like he’s speaking to himself, focusing on his hands that he can’t see under the fabric of Harry’s tee shirt. He skims Harry’s collarbones with his fingertips, tracing along the bones in a featherlike touch. He really shouldn’t be doing this unless he wants to fuck Harry raw, because his touch and his words are raising Harry’s pulse and causing his cock to twitch with interest. Niall’s fingers move to Harry’s nipples, circling them lightly and Harry grinds down on instinct, huffs out a breath. Niall looks up at him then, meets his eye and Harry sees his pupils widen.

”Fuck it,” Niall says and pushes at Harry’s hip to make him get off his lap, ”take me to bed, Harry.”

It’s hurried, getting to the bedroom and taking their clothes off. Their hands wander, touching everywhere. Harry had missed Niall more than he’s able to express, but now, touching Niall like this, having Niall touch him like this, he realises that he missed him even more than he thought. Niall kisses down Harry’s tummy, digging his teeth into the flesh on his hips while his two fingers work him open. Their breathing is loud. Niall’s fingers brush against Harry’s prostate and Harry groans.

”I love you,” Niall pants against Harry’s hip.

”I love y-” Harry’s reply turns into a moan as Niall takes his cock into his mouth. ”Now, Niall, please.”

Niall shakes his head on Harry’s cock.

”Please, Niall,” Harry moans as Niall hits his prostate again. Niall lifts his head.

”’m not done loosening you up, pet, it’ll hurt.”

”Don’t care, don’t care.”

”Alright,” Niall murmurs, but inserts a third finger anyway, brushing against his prostate again and Harry sees stars. He cums hard, feels his orgasm in his entire body as it ripples through him.

”Fuck, Niall,” he pants and looks down at Niall who doesn’t look the least apologetic. Harry swivels his hips. ”Fuck me anyway, want you inside me.”

”Yeah?"

”Yeah, come on.” He grinds down on Niall’s fingers and Niall kisses his hipbone before pulling them out. He gets a condom on himself in record time and then he pushes inside.

”I’m not gonna last long.” Niall moans and Harry wraps his legs around his waist. He’s full, so full of Niall and he loves him, loves him so much.

”We’re gonna need to get tested after this,” Harry pants out between Niall’s thrusts, ”cause I want to feel your cum dripping out of me.”

” _Fuck_ ,” Niall groans and cums, pulsating inside Harry. He collapses on top of him, his arms giving out. Harry hugs him tight. Niall’s weight on him is perfect.

”You’re so filthy,” Niall mumbles into Harry’s chest.

”You love it.”

”Mm,” Niall hums in agreement, ”love you.” He thrusts in lightly and lifts his head. Their eyes meet and Harry can see it, sees how true it is. Niall leans in and presses his lips to Harry’s. He slips out of Harry and rolls down to lay down next to him, close. They stare up at the ceiling, catching their breath.

”So we’re doing this, then?” Niall asks. The question fills the room with its enormity. He nudges Harry’s shoulder with his. Harry turns his head to look at him. He searches with his hand for Niall’s, finds it and grabs it. The words in his heart are glowing, bright neon that threatens to blind him. He has to close his eyes. Niall is offering him everything. Despite how he acted, Harry is allowed to have everything. He can have Hugo and Niall. He can have the fantasies he conjured up in his mind. It makes his heart beat hard with excitement. He’s not scared, not anymore.

Harry squeezes Niall’s hand and opens his eyes. Niall smiles, his eyes glittering. Harry kisses him.


	2. CHAPTER TWO

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have never been to a strip show, and my research is limited to one (1) Magic Mike video on Youtube that I decided was completely wrong for what I wanted to write. As a result, this is nothing but self-indulgence that I really enjoyed writing.

Harry looks himself in the mirror. He’d asked Niall earlier on how he should dress and Niall had answered ”just put on a nice shirt” which hadn’t been helpful at all, really. He fixes his hair a little, pushing his curls out of his face. He looks decent, he thinks. He’s applied a fresh coat of nail varnish - yellow, because that seems to be Niall’s favourite, and he chose a white shirt that’s a little sheer, showing off vague contours of his tattoos.

He’s nervous. He’d said so to Niall earlier this week when Niall suggested this weekend, to which Niall had smiled.

”Ask the boys to come with, then.”

”Would you be fine with that?”

”Wouldn’t suggest it otherwise,” Niall shrugged and smiled.

So Harry did. Typed out the question in the group chat, **Wanna come with me to watch Niall perform on Friday?** Louis called him up immediately, asking if he was actually serious. ”Yes,” said Harry and Louis said ” _yes!_ ” and Harry could almost see his excitement through the phone. And when Louis had said yes, Liam couldn’t say no, of course not. This means that tonight he’s going to see his stripper boyfriend perform, with his two best friends by his side.

He meets them at one of the nearby pubs on the high street for a beer beforehand. Louis is buzzing with excitement which does nothing to soothe Harry’s nerves.

”I don’t get why you’re so nervous, mate,” Louis says and takes a drink from his almost empty pint. Harry’s barely touched his, because once they’re finished they are leaving and heading for the club. ”You’ve seen him perform before.”

”Yes, I’m aware,” Harry answers dryly. Liam pats him on the back.

”Maybe you’ll be really into it,” he says kindly.

”Not helping, Liam,” Harry groans.

”Oh, get off yourself,” Louis says and snatches the pint from Harry’s hand and takes a large gulp. ”We can’t sit here all night.”

”We could postpone it.”

Liam huffs. ”You’ve gone to the other side of town to drop Hugs off at Gemma’s, we are not postponing this. Think of it like a bandaid, then, just rip it off.”

Louis shoves at his shoulder. ”We’re not supposed to make him even more nervous, youidiot.”

”Christ,” Harry mutters and snatches his pint back from Louis and downs it in one go. ”Come on then, let’s go.” Louis looks absolutely _delighted_.

The walk to The Grand isn’t far. There’s a short queue outside the building, to which Louis whistles lowly. ”Your boy must be popular.” Harry hits him on the back of the head. Niall texted him earlier and told him that he’d put them on the list, so they skip the line and head straight for a very dapper looking man in a suit holding a clipboard. He looks them up and down when they near him and gives them an expectant smile.

Harry clears his throat. ”Um, Harry Styles?”

The man smiles wider at his obvious nerves and scans the list in his hand. ”Right, party of three,” he says and steps to the side. ”Enjoy your evening, lads. Give the maître d’ your name and she’ll show you to your table.”

”Thank you very much!” says Louis and pats him on the shoulder as they pass. Harry is slowly regretting his decision of inviting them. Liam pokes Harry in the shoulder as they walk inside and leans in to whisper ”Give the what our names?” and perhaps Harry isn’t regretting this at all. He puts his arm around Liam’s shoulders and smiles.

Once they step inside, they’re met with yet another dapper looking man standing behind the desk of the cloakroom. They hand him their jackets after making sure they’ve got their phones and wallets and continue on, now entering the room where it all goes down. The lights are dim, except for the lights on stage where three men in various stages of undress are moving to the beat of a song Harry has never heard. He rubs his palms on his thighs. Doesn’t really want to look, but does so anyway to see if one of them is Niall. It isn’t. He almost breathes out in relief.

Louis heads straight for the maître d’, standing to the side. Harry and Liam follow him, hear him tell her Harry’s name. She shines up in a big smile.

”Finally!” she exclaims and offers him her hand. ”I’ve been dying to meet Niall’s boyfriend.”

”Oh, I’m his mate, that’s Harry.” Louis points to Harry. Harry musters up a smile and waves. She looks over to him and her smiles turns into a softer one.

”Yeah, this makes more sense,” she says and shakes Harry’s hand instead. Liam laughs and Louis says ”Oi!” and Harry’s smile becomes genuine.

”I’m Lauren,” she introduces herself and then, ”come with me, I’ve reserved you the best table for tonight.”

”Nice,” says Louis, all apparently now forgiven, and they follow her to a round table with a clear view of the stage. She plucks the ’reserved’ sign off the table and then folds her hands in front of her with a smile.

”I’ll get one of the waiters for you, have a lovely evening.”

They sit down and Harry sends off a quick text to Niall, letting him know they’ve arrived. He looks around, taking in his surroundings. It’s obvious that the place usually is a nightclub, but they’ve done what they can. It all looks very neat, with heavy drapes covering the walls, making the atmosphere warm. Louis must agree, because he says ”this place is mighty fancy” and Harry can only nod.

The place is crowded and all tables closest to the stage are occupied. What is clearly a bachelorette party occupies three tables, the women whistling and cheering when the stripper closest to them swirls his hips in a very sensual way. Harry feels his cheeks grow hot.

”When’s Niall coming on?” Liam asks, his eyes glued on the most muscular of the men, currently moving his hips to the beat as he unbuttons his very tight leather trousers.

”Dunno, but he’s the main act, apparently.”

” _Nice_ ,” Louis says and stretches out his hand for a fist bump. Harry rolls his eyes and bumps his fist. He can’t help but wonder _why_ Niall is the main act, though. The three men on stage are far more muscular than Niall, and isn’t that what people want? Not that Niall isn’t extremely sexy, because he is, but he doesn’t look like these men.

A waiter comes up to them, and if Harry had been drinking it probably would have gotten stuck in his throat. It’s very cliche, how the waiter’s in only a tiny pair of shorts and bowtie.

”Gentlemen,” he says with a bow of his head and a flashing smile, ”what can I get you? First drink is on the house, seeing as this is the first time Niall has invited guests.”

”Christ,” Harry mutters for the second time this evening. He wasn’t expecting everyone to know who he is, but that seems to be inescapable at this point.

”Well in that case,” Louis says and puts his hands on the table, leaning forward a bit, ”we’ll have the best drinks you have.”

Harry puts his head in his hand and winces, but the waiter only laughs delightedly and bows his head again with a ”coming right up,” before disappearing.

”Why do you insist on embarrassing me, Louis?”

Something that looks very close to hurt flashes across Louis’ face for a short moment and Harry instantly regrets his words, but then Louis smiles gently and pats his hand.

”Love you, too.”

The waiter comes back after only a short moment, this time carrying a tray with three tall glasses, filled with a pink liquid and topped with colourful umbrellas. He sets them down on the table.

”Just wave me over when you need me,” he says before leaving again, ”enjoy the show.”

The drink is absolutely delicious, tasting nothing at all of alcohol which will be very dangerous, Harry thinks, because by the looks of Liam and Louis, they’ll be wanting to drink this the entire evening. Harry can’t blame them.

His phone vibrates in his pocket. It’s a text from Niall.

**:) get ready**

”Oh shit,” Harry says and looks up at his friends, ”Niall’s just texted me, I think he’s up next.”

And sure enough, a few minutes pass and then the three men on stage gather up in the middle and take a bow while everyone applauds. Harry claps his hands along with the others but realise that he’s barely caught anything of the show. They leave the stage, taking their clothes with them, and the stage lights dim down completely.

”Oh shit,” Harry says again and feels like he’s holding his breath.

Then: a single spotlight comes on and a group of women to their right start to cheer, obviously knowing exactly what’s to come. Harry wipes his palms on his thighs. The music fades into nothing and then starts what unmistakably is Tom Jones’ ’Sexbomb’.

” _Yes_ ,” says Louis and when Harry looks over he sees that he’s nearly trembling with excitement. It surely cannot be normal to be this excited about seeing your best friend’s boyfriend stripping. Harry hasn’t got time to ponder about this, though, because from the side of the stage, right in the middle of the spotlight as Tom Jones starts singing, enters Niall.

It is not what Harry expected. Well, he doesn’t know _what_ he expected but it surely wasn’t this. Niall is wearing a very well tailored suit, midnight blue velvet. His crisp white shirt is buttoned all the way up, paired with a tie. He saunters on stage with a type of confidence Harry hasn’t seen on him before. At least not since the first time they met, when he was also working. Somehow, the ridiculous song _works_. The women to their right cheer and Niall raises his hand at them and waves with a nod, clearly familiar with them. He reaches the middle of the stage and stops, puts his hands in his pockets and the music comes to an abrupt stop. He stands there for a moment, right in the spotlight, and the room is completely quiet. Harry holds his breath. Niall scans the room discreetly, his eyes wandering, and settle on Harry. He winks. And then, right as the music starts again, some new, other song with a heavy beat that Harry doesn’t recognise, he thrusts his hips and the show begins.

It is… incredibly sexy. There’s no other word for it. Niall does so little but the effect is immense. He unbuttons his suit jacket and puts his hands to his chest, drags them down his body, slowly, until he lets one of them press against his groin. Harry feels his jaw physically drop. Niall throws his head back in a way that looks a lot like he does when Harry sucks him off, but there’s something that’s not right about it. It’s all fake. But fuck, he’s good at faking it. He has Harry absolutely mesmerised.

He starts taking his tie off, loosening the knot until it falls apart in his hands. He throws it to the side and pops the top buttons on his shirt open, exposing his chest. Somehow he manages to do all this while moving his hips to the beat of the music, thrusting just a little, just enough to keep everyone in the room on their toes. Harry’s mouth has gone dry. He takes a sip of his drink but it doesn’t help.

”Harry,” Liam breathes out next to him. Harry tears his eyes from Niall to look at him. Both he and Louis are looking at Niall with something that can only be described as awe.

”Harry, that is your _boyfriend._ ”

Harry nods dumbly, despite Liam not looking at him. It’s fucking unbelievable. He turns his attention back to Niall who is now taking off his suit jacket, slipping it slowly off his shoulders in a way that should not be attractive but is. He lets it fall to the floor behind him. And then he starts unbuttoning his cuffs. He stills his hips and lowers his gaze, stands completely still as he slowly folds his sleeves back, pushing them up to his elbows. It is, without a doubt, the hottest thing Harry has ever seen. He feels himself slip down in his seat and groans quietly. He understands completely now, why Niall is the main act.

Niall, now in less constrictive clothing, starts moving across the stage. He gives his attention to the bachelorette party, coming to a halt in front of them and then dropping down to his knees in a motion so fluid that Harry loses his breath. Niall leans his weight on his arms as he smoothly, slowly, grinds his hips down to the floor. His shirt is straining on his shoulders and the velvet trousers make his bum look glorious and it is already too much. Standing on his knees, Niall starts unbuttoning his shirt further, one button at a time while he rolls his hips, grinding them in the air. He pulls the shirt out of his trousers once it’s fully unbuttoned and smooths his hands down his chest, down to his crotch again. Harry has to adjust himself, tries to do it discreetly, but fails.

”Mate, you already look fucking _ruined_ ,” Louis says with a hint of a laugh, but it’s strained.

”Don’t look at me. Please,” Harry breathes out without taking his eyes off Niall. It’s embarrassing, but he doesn’t really care right now. Niall moves to the other side of the stage, to the women who appear to be regulars, drops down to his knees again but turned around, showing off his bum as he rolls his hips. He pushes his shirt off his shoulders and the spotlight perfectly shows off how his lean back muscles move under his skin with his movements.

He moves to the middle of the stage once more. The beat is slow now, and he matches his movements to it, moving fluidly and with precise rhythm. It goes on forever, and yet not. Harry loses himself in the moment. Niall pops the button on his trousers, slowly pulls the zipper down and spreads the fabric, showing off a pair of white, very tight pants. He cups himself and Harry bites down on his knuckle to stop himself from moaning out loud. Coming here was a very, very bad idea. Also an extremely good one.

It’s over too soon, but Harry also wouldn’t be able to handle even a second more of this torture. There’s a bead of sweat rolling down his cheek. Niall didn’t even take off his trousers, which is absolutely insane because he is a _stripper_ , but somehow it makes it even hotter. The music fades out and Niall, just like the strippers before him, takes centre stage and bows. His chest is covered in glistening sweat. Harry, realising that his hands are clamped tight on his thighs, removes them with difficulty and joins the applause which is louder than anything Harry has ever heard. Niall leaves the stage, is replaced by two men dressed in firefighter gear but Harry pays them no attention. He is painfully hard in his trousers and his heart is racing. He turns to his friends, who are looking at him.

”That was…,” Louis starts, and then shakes his head, ”wow. I did not expect I’d find it this hot.” He says it with a little laugh, but his eyes are wide and there’s a slight tremble in his hands. Harry doesn’t know what to say, but he’s also completely unable to form words right now. Liam takes a big gulp of his drink, finishing it off and exhales slowly.

”Congratulations on your boyfriend,” he tells Harry, and this breaks the spell Harry is under and he releases a small laugh. He lifts his hands to his face and feels how hot his cheeks are. Reaches out for his glass and his hand is shaking.

”Mate,” Liam says and eyes him with concern, ”you look like you’re about to explode.”

”I…,” Harry starts and shakes his head, ”I’m so _fucking_ hard,” he whispers and looks down at his crotch where he is straining under his trousers.

”Told you you’d be into it,” says Liam with a very unnecessary level of smugness and Harry closes his eyes, tries to relax, tries to not focus on the pain.

”Alright, I’ll go get us some beers,” says Louis and stands up to walk over to the bar. Liam puts his hand on Harry’s and pats it.

”Why don’t you go have a quick wank in the toilets?”

”That’d be so gross, Liam.”

Liam shrugs. ”Yeah, but you look like a mess, mate.”

Harry sighs. He won’t be having a wank in the toilet, that’d feel so wrong. He’ll just have to ride it out. He closes his eyes and takes deep breaths. It’s not long until Louis returns with three beers, the receipt between his teeth and he places the pints on the table. Harry grabs his immediately and downs half of it before the others have even taken a sip. It cools him down, somewhat. His phone vibrates in his pocket.

**gonna take a shower and then we can meet outside if u lads wanna go for a drink ? ill be done in 20**

Harry shows the text to the others who nod, and he types out a **Yeah, meet you there x**

”We better finish these off, then,” says Louis and raises his glass in a toast.

The fresh air is a relief. Harry’s hard on is still very much painful, but he feels more in control, now. The maître d’, Lauren, covered a very obvious smile with her hand when she saw them leaving.

”He’s good, isn’t he?” she asked, her eyes glittering and falling down to Harry’s crotch. Harry simply cleared his throat and nodded, carried on walking.

They wait for Niall by the side entrance that says ’staff’ and Harry takes big gulps of air. Liam and Louis are talking about something, but he’s not able to concentrate on that, now. And then the door opens and out steps Niall, his hair still damp from his shower and now clad in blue jeans and one of Harry’s hoodies, looking nothing like he just came of stage after humping the air for god knows how long. And Harry really loved the Niall he saw on stage, but he loves this one even more. Fuck, he loves him so much.

”Hello boys,” Niall says with a big smile, ”what’d you think?”

Nobody has a chance to answer before Harry has pushed him up against the brick wall. It’s animalistic, almost, he does it on pure instinct. He grabs Niall’s face in both hands and kisses him. Niall melts into his touch, opens up his mouth for Harry and when Harry grinds his crotch against him and groans from the wonderfulness of the friction, smiles into the kiss.

”I take it you liked it then, good,” Niall says and breaks the kiss. Harry buries his head in Niall’s shoulder and shivers. Niall puts a hand on the back of Harry’s head, combing through the curls.

”Wanna go to Northcote Records?” he asks over Harry’s shoulder, ”I think they’ve got some offers tonight.”

Liam and Louis say yes, and Niall pats Harry on the hip, kisses his ear.

”Come on then, pet. I’ll blow you in the toilets.”

On this exact day, six years later, Harry is sitting on the sofa and trying to figure out the settings for the new telly they’ve bought. The front door opens and he can hear Hugo come home after having been to a friend’s house after school, talking to someone.

”Yeah, we booked the plane tickets yesterday. I can’t wait to see my cousin Theo,” he says, and there’s a pause. Then, ”I dunno, I have to ask.”

Harry hears him enter the kitchen where Niall is making dinner, but doesn’t hear either the question or the answer, because just then he figures out how to change the language from German to English. He saves the settings and then walks into the kitchen, where he sees Hugo on the phone. (The phone has been a hot subject between Niall and Harry. Hugo is an avid emoji user and is very fond of the veggie and fruit emojis, often adding a broccoli or carrot to all his texts in the family group chat. Last month, he asked if Kieran could come over and added the aubergine, at which Niall had a smaller panic attack.

”The _aubergine_ , Harry!” he almost cried over the phone when he called Harry as soon as Hugo had asked the question, ”the _aubergine_!”

”He’s eleven, he doesn’t know the connotations,” Harry said, trying not to laugh.

”How do you know?”

”Even if he does, and I repeat: he’s _eleven_. He’s not having sex. Did you, when you were eleven?”

”I was a closeted, gay boy at an all boys catholic school in Ireland,” Niall grumbled, ”I didn’t have sex, _period_.”

Harry later managed to convince Hugo to not use that emoji, fibbing about not liking the colour, which Hugo thought was weird, but did as asked.)

Harry walks up to Hugo and kisses his hair. Hugo smooths it down with his hand and rolls his eyes. If Harry had kissed his hair in public, Hugo probably wouldn’t talk to him for the rest of the day.

”Who’re you talking to?” Harry whispers in Hugo’s ear not covered by the phone.

”Grandma,” Hugo mouths.

”Tell her hi,” says Niall and hands Hugo a carrot stick from the chopping board. Harry stretches out his hand and Niall gives him one, as well.

”Yeah, tell her we say hi,” Harry says and takes a bite of his carrot.

”The dads say hi,” Hugo says dutifully into the phone, rolling his eyes again. He’s started getting a bit of attitude lately, which Harry isn’t overly excited about. Rolling his eyes is one of Hugo’s new, standard traits. One day they’ll probably get stuck like that, Harry told him a few months ago, to which Hugo rolled his eyes.

He hangs up with a muttered ”love you, too,” and then shoves the phone into his pocket. Harry kisses his hair again, can’t help himself. Hugo starts digging through his backpack and then places a crumbled piece of paper on the table.

”This needs signing.” He takes a bite of his carrot stick.

Niall picks it up and smooths it out. ”Oh, are you going to the science museum?” he asks and smiles, leans over to open the pen drawer. ”That sounds fun.” He scribbles his signature and then hands the paper to Hugo who shoves it carelessly back inside the backpack.

It’s in no way a special day. It is simply one of many that they will share for the rest of their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> available at horansheroes.tumblr.com


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